HARARE —
Zimbabwe’s Warriors arrived in South Africa for the Africa Nations Championships this morning with new hopes.

The Warriors, who left Harare this morning, have failed to impress at the past two editions of the African Nations Championships losing out in the first round at both the 2009 and 2011 finals with players blaming lack of enough preparations for their heavy losses.

But this time around, the team is hoping for a better show having been in camp since the start of December when the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season came to an end.

Captain Partson Jaure thinks the Warriors should be able to go past Morocco in their first game and should secure qualification with victories over Burkina Faso and Uganda in the matches that will follow.

According to the fixtures list released by the Confederation of African Football, the Warriors will take on the Moroccans on January 12 before taking on the Cranes of Uganda four days later.

Ian Gorowa’s team will round off their group campaign with a game against Burkina Faso on January 20 but Jaure thinks a win against Morocco will be very crucial.

As part of their preparations, the Warriors have played two friendly matches against Tanzania and Mozambique and will also play Gabon in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

They will round off their preparations with a game against South African club Ajax Cape Town and Jaure thinks enough has been done to guarantee success, adding that in return, the players are putting 100 percent effort.

The tournament is reserved for players who ply their trade in clubs in their home countries. Failure by the Warriors at the African Nations Championships will be enough to show that the Zimbabwean game has gone further down compared to the rest of Africa.

The Zimbabwean national team has also failed to qualify for the past four editions of the Africa Cup of Nations finals and a good show in South Africa will help to bring back smiles on the faces of their success starved fans.